Download the installer before using the options below:

curl --fail --location https://c3pm.dev/install.sh --output install.sh

Install location

c3pm installs to this directory by default:

$HOME/.local/bin/c3pm

Installer behavior

The installer does the following:

selects Linux x86_64, Linux ARM64, macOS ARM64, or macOS Intel assets when the release provides them;
installs missing bootstrap tools when needed;
downloads and verifies the latest c3pm release;
reuses an existing Nix installation when available;
otherwise chooses a suitable Nix setup automatically.

On a compatible Linux systemd host, the installer prefers the multi-user Nix daemon. Other non-root Linux hosts use a single-user installation; a root environment without a compatible daemon uses nix-portable. On macOS, the installer uses an existing Nix installation or the daemon installer; --nix portable and --nix single-user are rejected. The installer updates ~/.profile on Linux or ~/.zprofile on macOS unless disabled.

Options

Option	Purpose	Environment equivalent
`--version VERSION`	Release tag to install; defaults to `latest`	`C3PM_VERSION`
`--prefix DIRECTORY`	Installation directory; defaults to `~/.local/bin`	`C3PM_INSTALL_DIR`
`--nix MODE`	`auto`, `daemon`, `single-user`, `portable`, or `none`	`C3PM_NIX_MODE`
`--yes`	Run without confirmation prompts	`C3PM_YES`
`--no-modify-path`	Leave `~/.profile` unchanged	`C3PM_NO_MODIFY_PATH`
`--dry-run`	Print the installation plan	—
`--help`, `-h`	Show usage	—

# Install the current documented release to a custom directory.
sh install.sh --version v0.3.7 --prefix "$HOME/bin"

# On Linux, let c3pm manage nix-portable instead of installing system Nix.
sh install.sh --nix portable

# Install c3pm only and configure Nix later.
sh install.sh --nix none

# Preview all actions without changing the system.
sh install.sh --dry-run

For unattended installs, add --yes. To keep ~/.profile unchanged, add --no-modify-path.

sh install.sh --help

The installer can bootstrap packages through apt, dnf/yum, pacman, zypper, or apk. On Arch Linux, prerequisite installation performs a full pacman -Syu sync and upgrade to avoid a partial upgrade.

Automated releases do not publish a macOS Intel asset; use the source-build instructions for that platform.

Release checksums are verified before an existing c3pm binary is replaced.